The Mission In A Nutshell

It occurred to me that it might be a good idea to write a quick summary of my situation and why it’s urgent. I’m a wordy sucker, and perhaps the significant points aren’t getting through to readers in the more detailed section, so here’s a fast rundown. You can always check the “Bio” page if you’d like more info, of course, and as always any questions or comments are always welcome!

I’m Glenn Horowitz, and I’ve lived in Nashville, Tennessee since 1993. For a long time I made my living as a courier pilot, but things have changed a lot for me over the last several years.

I became disabled by multiple sclerosis in 2006, and since then it has made an absolute train wreck out of my body, and that’s no exaggeration. I’m dependent on a power wheelchair to get around, and can’t walk, hobble or even stand upright reliably. I’ve been left handed all my life, but MS has mostly shot the use of that hand and arm. I’m trying my best to learn to be a righty, but it’s not easy…I really can’t do hand writing these days, but it’s not bad otherwise. I use my left hand as much as I can, but some days it’s like having a dead fish where my hand used to be!

Because of my affected limbs, just getting into or out of my vehicle risks a skull-cracking fall. Once I start to fall, I can’t stop it. Every time I have to drive somewhere, there are a minimum of four transfers from wheelchair to vehicle and back.

Every outing means that at upon reaching a destination I need someone to push me around in a manual wheelchair. This is not fun, especially since the only person around who will do this is my 74 year old mother. She’s partially disabled herself due to a fractured foot that never healed properly, and pushing me around in a manual chair is exhausting and painful for her. The chance of her injuring herself while doing this is very real.

I am required to go out at minimum every other month to see a doctor to refill the prescription medications I need to get by. I cannot function without them, and become a useless, pain filled body if I don’t take them. Nonetheless, the law requires that I physically see a doctor to renew these prescriptions.
EDIT 11/18/2012- After the recent revelation that disabled and wheelchair-friendly transport is available at a cost that won’t break the bank, one of the biggest hazards I faced, getting to and from doctors’ visits, has been removed, and that’s a definite relief. Still, the overall situation hasn’t improved, nor will it until my liberty of mobility is restored. While not catastrophic, this expense still eats into whatever small amount is left over after paying bills each month, and that too will be a negative removed once I can get places on my own.

I have become a prisoner of my home and the short radius around it that’s limited by my power chair’s battery endurance. All of those errands in life that healthy people take for granted are closed to me, from going for an outing in a park to dining in a restaurant…they’re just too risky. My life is trickling away, one day at a time.

I own a vehicle that’s perfect for an involved modification to make it wheelchair accessible…a 2008 Honda Element, but the procedure costs about $26,000. I ran through all my savings, 401(k) and many of my personal belongings during the ordeal of becoming disabled and qualifying for permanent disability status and income. Now I have no assets remaining and even the modest mortgage on my home eats 85% of that disability income. Much as I’d prefer to finance the conversion on my own, there’s no way to do it until my home is paid off, years away from now.

My plan here is to get maximal exposure for this blog…the internet can reach millions of people, and if only a small fraction of those are willing to donate just a small amount at a time, I can achieve my goal. I believe that there are more than enough good and generous folks out there to make this happen…if I can reach them.

Will you be one of them?

Bitcoin Donation Address: 1N9FWbFhTQrmTTQwMYYMBoc4ymdXBKSg5L

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I want to cry. I want it to rain. I want to climb under my covers and pray for an end to your imprisonment. More than anything, I want to reach out and take your hand and just hold onto it. It must be hell to live without anyone touching you, so Glenn, it’s not much from all these miles away, but I AM holding you in support.

I’ll say this Glenn …. your situation has your body prisoner, but your mind is better than many of us with mobility. Your sharpness behind the stick and gun in RoF is one to be reckoned with. I wont go into a rendition of “We Will Overcome” like a 1950 hippy, but I will say, you will prevaile. And you will achieve your goales.

Thank you kindly! I ain’t all that sharp with ROF since I’ve spent the last several months focusing on my real world R/C flying, but as we head into the cooler weather you can be sure I’ll be getting back up to speed with it!

Well, you have been missed all around the gaming community. I am asked often “have you seen Gunloon, hows he doing? ” My reply is generally the same each time. “He is doing alot better than I would be, in his shoes” I have watched this MS grab you and change your whole life over the past few years, wishing that I could somehow make your life a little easier.
You are one of the kindest, caring, generous, most charismatic people I know. You have helped me immensely on my own journey through the “disability process” When I needed a mouse, Glenn sent one to me, when I needed a joystick, Glenn sent one to me, when I needed a diversion from all the Social Security “red tape” Glenn sent me a very nice, brand new airsoft pistol, a well modeled colt mod 1911, (not cheap) with all the extra goodies to have me shooting in a matter of minutes. Glenn Also gifted me a copy of “Rise of Flight” and at least a dozen or so planes. Although we have never met personally, Glenn is one of my dearest friends,and I think if his readers knew him like I do, his goal would be met already. Good luck in this venture Glenn, you deserve every penny that this blog generates, and I will do my best in passing it along to as many folks as possible ! Tell “Mom” hello for me, gently, kick the cats ; ) for me as well. Hope to meet ya in the virtual skies soon.
Always your friend

I met Glenn while playing PC Games and became a friend and fan. He is as polite a man as you could find and very helpful to others in whatever knowledge he can offer. Knowing his background as a Pilot and now Multiple sclerosis slowing him down, I can only hope to help him regain some of his life. Multiple sclerosis has taken a few from my family in the past. Good people seem to have bad things happen.. best wishes Glenn!

Hi Glenn, I saw the article tom woods posted on his blog. I originally got there from a tweet. But hey, my grandma had MS and my girlfriend has it as well. My donation is small but it’s what I can afford. You have my support and hopefully your message will spread. I’ll like and retweet as well. good luck to you sir.

The fact that you can donate anything is very much appreciated, believe me. My whole model for this project is the idea of many small donations coming in from a large number of people so my ‘footprint’ for any one person need not be a real inconvenience or hardship.

The internet’s a mighty big place! That’s why endorsement by someone like Dr. Woods is an immense boost to viewer numbers, which is precisely what I need to distinguish this blog from all the other fine blogs out there. As this project succeeds, it continually makes me feel better…these are freely given donations rather than funds handed me by some government agency that were coerced or stolen at gunpoint from real people. Apart from being positively moral, it validates my faith in the fact that there are a whole lot of empathic and generous people out there, willing to help a genuinely constructive cause once their attention has been alerted to it. Best of luck in your own life and to your grandmother and girlfriend. The MonSter os no joke, and we need great folks like you who are willing to help as you can!

From everything I’ve read it seems as though a Paleo diet may be able to improve the conditions of MS. Perhaps not a complete return to normalcy….but at the very least a great deal closer.

The first link is about a doctor who followed a plan that reversed the course of her MS with a diet. It wasn’t Paleo but many of the things involved in Paleo were there. The Jack Kruse page I linked to with several blog posts mentioning MS and the causes for is done by a Neurosurgeon named Jack Kruse who is actually in Nashville, Tennessee.

I also suggest sending an e-mail to Dr. Mercola about that article. Other things I think you should read about Robb Wolf’s the Paleo Solution and/or Wheat Belly by Dr. William Davis, and Mark Sisson’s The Primal Blueprint.

One of the first things I investigated when I began this blog was something like a progress bar graphic that would update as the donations increased. Unfortunately, while WordPress’ blog software supports those kind of ‘widgets,’ as they’re called, that only applies to blogs hosted on a separate provider’s web space. Since this blog is hosted by WordPress itself, I can’t use those widgets. I’m afraid I don’t have the time, energy or funds to set up a separate dedicated blog. I do keep the approximate percentage of the total posted on the sticky post at the top of the home page right by the ‘donate’ button and update it as needed.

Today, for example, the big influx of donations thanks to Dr. Woods’ endorsement on his own site brought the number up from 5.3% to 10.11% of the total…that works out to a grand total of about $2830.00 total as of today…and rising! I’ve updated that sticky post to reflect this.

Thank you, Anna, I’ll be checking on these as I can. At this point I’m not terribly sanguine about the benefits any specific dietary plans might have on my MS, it strikes me as analogous to attacking Godzilla with a flyswatter, but I’ve learned never to dismiss any potentially helpful ideas!

Glenn, I heard about your situation through Tom Woods. It is a great pleasure to assist a fellow lover of liberty! Keep your spirits up, my friend. I have no doubt that you will reach your goal. Best regards, Stephen

Can’t do much to help….financial problems abound in the world at large and small….but i can spread the word. i will link the TW blog and your own on my FB page..it is not much but it is what i can do at this time.

Good luck Glenn, your body may have failed you, but your spirit appears strong. I wish I had a full time job and some money to spare. Might I suggest looking into kickstarter as a way to get more donations. This seems like something right up their alley.

Glenn,
I read your story on the Daily Paul, and could relate somewhat to your situation. I too am confined to a wheelchair (25 years) due to a spinal cord injury when I was younger.

I am fortunate enough to have use of my arms and hands, but it is still a challenge. When you wrote about the concern of having a “fall” it really hit home with me.

I have been trying to recover from a failed surgery on my leg after a bad fall getting out of my truck and into my wheelchair. When I hit the ground it split the skin, and caused a small “boxer’s cut” which I discovered the next morning.

Instead of being smart and going to the ER to get a few stitches, I went to a plastic surgeon who made a 6 inch incision. I got an infection in the hospital, and was never prescribed antibiotics either pre-op or post-op. The incision swelled up and came apart, and I had to go back in and have ANOTHER surgery, which ALSO later came apart because my idiot doctor refused to believe I had an infection. I should have sued him when I had the chance.

anyway..

Long story short, I have had to heal this wound from scratch as it was deemed inoperable. It has been over 4 years now, and I am still dealing with this mess and trying to prevent my leg from being amputated. Even though I don’t have use of my legs, I would still like to keep both of them.

I am truly sorry to hear of your situation. It makes me realize how fortunate I am to have a home that is (finally) paid for, and a low debt load. I also have a network of friends and family that have been very supportive.

Even though I am also on a tight income, I will do my best to chip in to get you the help you need. I know that having a vehicle, and the independence that comes from that, is very important to someone in our shoes. Sometimes just being able to go for a drive and escape the confines of those 4 walls, is essential to maintaining ones sanity.

Thank you for sharing your story. I know it is not easy to ask for help in this manner. Hopefully your story will help people realize how insignificant some of their problems are, and be inspired by your quest to remain independent. I wish I were in a position to just write you a check for the necessary amount, or more importantly do something to make it all better.

Sometimes bad stuff happens to good people. I still struggle to understand it. Keep hanging in there, and hopefully you’ll get the help you need. Keep us posted as to how things are going.

Wow, that’s quite an ordeal! I sympathize with ‘idiot doctor’ stories, the fellow who diagnosed my MS discovered the presence of a protein in my blood that while not uncommon, occasionally can develop into multiple myeloma, the plasma cancer. This creep kept me from returning to work while I was still able, refused to sign a boilerplate form that would have let me collect unemployment benefits both my employer and I had paid into for years, refused to report his diagnosis of multiple sclerosis to Social Security when MS disabled me, and actually telephoned me with a blackmail attempt, all because he’s a researcher and wanted a fun guinea pig to play with…he set out to make me compliant and dependent by threatening to destroy me, a strategy that doesn’t work with me.

He also appears to have defrauded my Blue Cross insurer for a tidy $75,000 or so for expensive intravenous drugs I never received and misdiagnosed the type of MS I have, I’m sure intentionally because he was cozy with the drug manufacturer that provided the injectable Rebif I used for more than a year with zero benefit…love to nail him, but the Louisiana medical board ignored the 10 pounds of printed emails and correspondence I’d sent them as evidence and whitewashed the whole thing. I’m certain that both of our stories are far more common than most people would think they are.

I certainly appreciate the offer! The problem is that my mom, who moved here over a year ago, is still very leery of the Big Scary Internet and would react badly if she found I was posting my physical location…I’d never hear the end of it. Alas, I must decline, but I sure appreciate the gesture!

I sent a small donation. Best of luck to you! I read through the comments on Tom Woods website and I can see you are being inundated with good advice but I just want to mention one thing. A few years ago my husband, children, and myself lived in a house with black mold and we got very sick. I somehow found out about the link between mycotoxins and many different types of illness and I just wanted let you know about the connection. Do with it what you want, but at least now you know about it.

Hey Glenn – Learned from Tom Woods that you are in need of assistance. Never shall a man ask for my help and be turned away empty handed, lest it requires me taking the food from the mouth of my daughter.

Thus, since I am a man of modest means, accept this humble contribution of $10. But it is money sent by my free will and with the use of no gun – and I only wish I could do more for you.

A dear friend of my died from MS a few years back – I first met him when my men’s team volunterred to help him with showers once a week as he could barely do it himself later we took him to events and eventually set him up in a care facility – later we got other teams involved and would pick him up and bring to meetings and community events – helps when you have a tight community of people – later he became bed ridden and could hardly move his body and spend is last years in a care facility for the elderly in our town…so I have great compassion for your situation and thank God it is not as bad as my friend. A couple of thoughts – here is a link on how immunocal a glutothione precursor (its a food) has helped with other folks who have MS. It includes links to published studies.

Also a healer named John Douglas works with academic research facilities – he can see into the body and therefore gives medical researchers research ideas – in the case of MS, he claims that a parasite in the spinal area leaves waste products that overtime compromise the myelin sheath – I don’t know how much research has been done on this possibility but it may be worth pursuing …

I think that sort of thing is more effective with people in better shape than I am, unfortunately…as I’ve said before, my experience with many of these therapies is akin to taking on Godzilla armed only with a flyswatter. I will say I noticed an intolerance for toxins like you mention some time ago, and have avoided obvious hazards like aspartame for years. I despised them when I was healthy and they literally cause me pain these days, so I think I’m doing the best I can at this point.

I found you through Tom Woods today. I read his blog every day. A truly great man, and from what I’ve read, you sound like a great man as well. Your writing is marvelous, and of course your espousal of Austrian economics earns you big points. I admire the dignified and positive manner in which you are dealing with this difficult situation. I hope my contribution helps get you moving in no time. Godspeed (or good luck) to you, good sir!

Thank you for that thoughtful comment, Jeremiah! I agree with your assessment of Dr. Woods, which is exactly why I requested assistance in this from him. His is my first endorsement and I hope there will be more; in one day I saw a huge success in both the increased traffic as well as donations received. I surmised that this kind of boost would be absolutely essential to distinguish my blog from the vast number of others available in the internet market of ideas, and I’m feeling mighty pleased that my theory was confirmed. I’m glad you enjoy my own work, so please don’t be a stranger here!

Christopher, that you parted with anything at all to help my cause as well as the fact that you took the trouble to leave a comment marks you as a good person in my book, one who has a nature that inclines you to help as you can for a reason you deem worthy. Most people can’t be bothered to lift a finger or part with a dime…ya done good, thank you!

Agreed, and I’ll reply as I did to a similar comment that one of the first things I investigated when I began this blog was something like a progress bar graphic that would update as the donations increased. Unfortunately, while WordPress’ blog software supports those kind of ‘widgets,’ as they’re called, that only applies to blogs hosted on a separate provider’s web space. Since this blog is hosted by WordPress itself, I can’t use those widgets. I’m afraid I don’t have the time, energy or funds to set up a separate dedicated blog.

I do keep the approximate percentage of the total posted on the sticky post at the top of the home page right by the ‘donate’ button and update it as needed, so anyone interested can always check its progress.

Today, for example, the big influx of donations thanks to Dr. Woods’ endorsement on his own site brought the number up from 5.3% to 10.11% of the total…that works out to a grand total (for all time, though more than half is within the past 24 hours) of about $2830.00 total as of today…and rising! I’ve updated that sticky post to reflect this. I thank you for pointing out that the amount needed to modify my vehicle for wheelchair access, $26,000, should be immediately visible without having to dig for it and that has been included as well.

Hello from Ireland! I read your letter on Tom Woods’ blog and was very moved by it. A friend of mine has been suffering from MS for many years and now has been forced into a wheelchair. I hope your message gets far and I hope I can help in any way.

Hi, Alistair, I’m happy you’re willing to help, thank you. One of the most effective ways to assist my cause is by telling your friends who might be interested…spreading the word. Yesterday’s epic gains in viewership and donations were clearly due to the ‘publicity bomb’ that happened when many people like yourself saw Dr. Woods’ post on his site. I’ll be looking for similar endorsements as I can, and with the support of folks like you this issue will be kept visible. Yesterday validated my feeling that people are to a great extent only too happy to pitch in when they’re aware of someone like me in genuine need of assistance. As time passes, I’m more pleased all the time to see it in action, mighty gratifying stuff!

The State has proven to not only be cruel but horribly wasteful, as I point out in my Herald piece ‘This Welfare-Warfare State’s Gonna be the Death of Me’ that I published this past November. I would have loved to have had real comprehensive disability insurance to restore my life after being derailed by this affliction, but after all the taxes and fees confiscated at gunpoint from every paycheck there was never enough left to pay for it. In an ideal world the premiums for such insurance would be far less expensive, too. How many people are disabled so thoroughly that they can’t even board their vehicle? So few that it couldn’t cost much extra to cover that eventuality…but yet again the State has completely distorted the whole industry with its coerced ‘insurance’ that isn’t insurance at all.

Dear Glenn-
I was very moved by your writing, your insight and your determination. I am a friend of your mom’s and met you when you were a small boy (about 30 years ago). At that time I was in despair and finally was willing to ask for help. Your mom responded very generously with her time, compassion, and love. My life is much richer as a result. Asking for help has saved my life more than once. I am glad to be able to contribute to your cause. You have always been someone that just couldn’t be held down. Good luck to you. Marlene

First off I would like to say terrific blog! I had a quick question that I’d like to ask if you do not mind. I was interested to find out how you center yourself and clear your thoughts before writing. I have had a hard time clearing my mind in getting my ideas out. I truly do enjoy writing however it just seems like the first 10 to 15 minutes are generally wasted just trying to figure out how to begin. Any recommendations or tips? Kudos!

I really don’t. When I find myself with a bit more energy than usual, I sit down and get to it. I don’t have some contrived style; I write like I talk. When I’m composing, I write out one subject at a time that make up the body of the main topic, editing as I go, and as I go along by checking what I’ve typed and asking myself: does it accurately communicate the message as I would if I were talking to someone? Am I doing that effectively, trying to persuade them to consider my opinion in hopes they’ll end up agreeing with it?

As to wasted time, we’re in different universes, it seems to me. When I’m actively doing something I’m familiar with, that consumes little energy and I move along at a respectable clip. If on the other hand I’m trying to digest a large amount of new data, that’s when one of the most annoying symptoms of my MS becomes obvious. In computer terms, the MS I have has stolen much of my brain’s RAM, and when presented with too much new data to process, or when trying to multitask, I bog down just as an obsolete computer does when you ask too much of it. I sympathize with your concern about wasting 10 or 15 minutes getting your thoughts together, but I envy that kind of efficiency. When I get overloaded, as when I’m writing about a subject while fact checking it from several vectors to make sure the info is accurate. and marking the most useful of these to link to for backup in the piece, I can lose a lot more than that, often hours go by while I recover from that onslaught of data.

My average blog post is a few hundred words and my average article’s a little over 2,000. The blog post I can zip through in a few minutes but that article can take 3 or 4 days to write…whereas in my healthy days it would have been a few hours’ worth of intensive work. I don’t know if it’s any comfort, but from where I sit it sounds like you’re doing fine!

Yo Glenn!! My nigga listen up. You need to leave TN, or commit a crime. I know this is still controversial, but give medical cannabis a chance. I got diagnosed 7 years ago, and my tremors are gone, my shakes, I’m me when I have my medicine. Dump the presciptions, they’re killing your liver, go natural, smoke weed man. CBD, cannabadiol, the secondary major cannabanoid in cannabis is now available in strains with low THC, all heal no high. Good luck!

I agree that I’m perfectly suited for medical cannabis use, and on the CVRPLanguage of Libertyshow I lamented that on top of the other nonsense I’m forced to deal with, knowing that the one thing that’s proven to have good effects on all of my MS symptoms is illegal for reasons that are totally irrational and kept that way due to the State’s lust to lock up everyone it can get its claws into who uses it.

I’m not sure you’re getting the whole picture…if I can’t get to a restaurant or store, how on earth am I going to move to another state? My home’s been made almost entirely wheelchair friendly with the ramps the Civitan Club built for me, and if I can get them to build one more, a larger switchback ramp where the rotten old side deck is now I’ll even be able to get to my basement again.

No, everything from taking charge of my shopping to getting out to meet people who might be able to supply me with some helpful herbs to conducting journalism out in the world is dependent upon my finally being mobile again once the modification to my Honda’s complete.I appreciate the sentiment, but I’ve got to keep my eyes on the prize here!

I am extremely impressed with your writing
skills and also with the layout on your weblog. Is this a paid theme
or did you modify it yourself? Anyway keep up the nice quality writing,
it is rare to see a nice blog like this one these days.

Please let me know if you’re looking for a article author for your site. You have some really great posts and I think I would be a good asset. If you ever want to take some of the load off, I’d love
to write some content for your blog in exchange for a link back to mine.
Please send me an e-mail if interested. Cheers!

Pretty Good Links

Cutting the Gordian Knot
A promising new blog authored by my friend Kristie…unabashedly freedom oriented and well written, please check her work out!

incompetech.com
The best and most user friendly site for royalty free music and sounds for use in media projects. All Kevin asks is for attribution in new works using his material. Licensed under Creative Commons and thoroughly awesome!

Wheelchair Kamikaze
A different perspective on dealing with MS by Marc in New York. I like his writing style better than most I’ve seen…visit his blog!

Lew Rockwell dot com
A multifaceted site covering everything from politics and economics to food, fun and diversions. It’s my main daily trusted source for news.

Tatiana Moroz Official Site
The official site of my new friend and ally in the liberty community. Tatiana’s a wonderfully talented artist and a force to be reckoned with in the liberty movement…a genuine MUST SEE!

Freedomain Radio
As host Stefan Molyneaux describes it, “the largest and most popular philosophy show in the world.” For me it’s an island of rationality in a world gone mad…recommended!

Radio IO
Radio IO, home of the Bubba Army Radio Network and my friend Scott Ledger with his Dangerous Conversation…Tune in!

WKOAlive
A great station, broadcasting out of Tampa to keep you informed!

Adam Vs. The Man
Do you believe in peaceful, individual, voluntary action in your life? You just might be an anarcho capitalist! So’s Adam, and he promotes it with style.

Stuff Just For Fun

Rise Of Flight official site
More than just the premiere WW I air combat simulation, I consider Rise of Flight the most realistic flight sim ever. Check it out, the basic sim is free! You can fly two planes to begin with, or act as gunner in any 2-seat scout or large bomber online.

New Wings web site
A good bunch of solid folks here. Their emphasis is on training and learning, not brainless noob shoots. One of the best resources for a new pilot!

Asian Food Grocer
A marvelous site that stocks a universe of things Asian food related. I’m partial to their Japanese snack foods, myself, they’re sublime!